Category: Movie Reviews

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Action & Thriller Animation Foreign Movie Reviews

Ratatouille and Blood Brothers

It is one of those weeks that watching one movie is just not enough. Having read so many ravishing reviews on “Ratatouille” and since Cynthia so wanted to watch it, Ratatouille it was. An animated feature film produced by Pixar and when you hear the word “Pixar”, it just can’t go wrong. This film is not short either. A close to 2 hours entertainment with a short (bonus) film called “Lifted” at the beginning of the movie. “Ratatouille” has a simple storyline of a rat wanting to become a chef in Paris. It does have quite a “believable” plot from beginning to end (think “Happy Feet” for a hard-to-believe ending). The animation is top notch. I have been to Paris before and some of the scenes I would say are faithful replica of the real thing. No doubt Remy – our chef – is cute. But when you see the horde of rats running everywhere, Cynthia and I found it a bit … gross. Rats are rats and I don’t think people will fall in love with rats after the movie. Nevertheless, the takeaway point from this movie is not about rats per se but rather the insignificant – however usual it can be – can make a difference.

“Ratatouille” was the day before. Today (or rather yesterday), since Cynthia has a business function to attend, I wanted to take this wonderful opportunity to watch an … Indonesian horror film … alone. Cynthia being Indonesian boldly told me that she wouldn’t want to watch an Indonesian film, set aside an Indonesian horror film. That put doubts into my mind. I did some research and decided against watching that horror movie.

Since Cynthia doesn’t fancy Chinese film either, time to watch one while she was not around! Fortunate to me, my buddy KF the consultant could join me for a 6.45pm movie watching “Blood Brothers” at Vivocity. I don’t fancy Vivocity but Cathay does not have the time slot I want. As usual … *ahem* … KF got stuck in the office. I drove like a mad man from Beach Road to Vivocity in 20 minutes during rush hour. Phew … barely made it.

KF asked why I chose “Blood Brothers”. Duh … I am a big fan of Shu Qi so it is really no brainer right? Again, I read the reviews and they are mostly lukewarm. I can certainly understand why. The storyline is a typical Chinese mafia type set in the old days. I have to say I do like the backdrop of the movie, the costume, and the acting of some of the actors … including Shu Qi of course!

What’s the storyline like? Very linear (and no spoiler as always). There is this pair of friends and one elder brother and they left the village wanting to make some money in Shanghai. This trio turns out working with a mafia boss who has a pretty girlfriend (Shu Qi … duh!) … and this pretty girlfriend likes this mafia boss’s brother. Lots of drama, lots of acting opportunities … and lots of gaps. By that I mean if you are not into Chinese movies, you will certainly ponder upon all the illogical moments that appear from time to time. KF and I talked about these gaps over our dinner and without fail, we arrived at the same conclusion that the plot doesn’t have to explicitly talk about it … if you are a seasoned Chinese film viewer, you should be able to figure that out.

I wouldn’t say “Blood Brothers” is a must-watch, nor a film that is worth checking out. Definitely I think Shu Qui is more cut out for action movies like My Wife Is A Gangster 3. For me, the decision of watching “Blood Brother” is Shu Qi and Shu Qi only.

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Movie Reviews

The Bourne Ultimatum and Secret – Double Happiness?

I really should have given Jay Chow a benefit of doubt. He does not have any track record in writing a movie nor actually directing one, and certainly his previous acting in Curse of the Golden Flower was less than impressive. How do I feel about “Secret”? That will have to wait.

Two weekends ago, before Cynthia flew off to Bandung, I caught up with Lora and her boyfriend to have dinner and to watch the sneak preview of “The Bourne Ultimatum”. Partly to celebrate Lora’s birthday, partly to celebrate my first paycheck, and partly to catch the Bourne series because Cynthia is a big fan of Jason Bourne … oh, I meant Matt Damon.

When we get older, our memory sort of fades away. I don’t recall that many times Lora and I have watched movie together since young. The last movie we watched was a Cantonese comedy back in Hong Kong (5 years ago? After her previous breakup of a very long relationship, I remember). Another movie I can remember of was Titanic. Yes, I watched that movie three time on the big screen and yes, I have watched the uncensored version.

“Bourne Ultimatum” has received ravishing reviews from many sources. I can understand why. For the duration of 111 minutes, there was hardly a dull moment. It was action after action, cut scene after cut scene. And I think the story is well crafted. My only discomfort was that the camera jerks quite a fair bit and it made me dizzy throughout the movie. Also, there seems to be lacking of a “babe” factor. To choose between Bourne and Bond, I would probably go for the latest Bond movie. Despite all my discomfort, “Bourne Ultimatum” remains a strong movie and you shouldn’t give it a miss especially when you have watched any of the previous installments.

“Secret” on the other hand has way exceeded my expectation. One of my new colleagues suggested a Jay Chow movie and I said fine. To be fair, I am impressed by Jay Chow’s music talent and I do have 2 of his albums. But for a self-directed movie with a story written by him? I didn’t know what to expect.

After watching “Secret”, I am convinced that Jay Chow has talents. He is smart too. In this story, he plays the role of a music student who plays piano. That is right up his alley. Hence, in terms of acting, it is well within his area of passion. I am so surprised by his skill on the piano as he played it really well in the movie. Perhaps “Secret” is full of music and because I love music, I naturally love the movie. That certainly helps. At some point in the movie, I felt like watching YUI’s “Midnight Sun” from the scripting point of view. But it is not. “Secret” is full of twists and turns and I would say, given such a complex plot, this movie actually has a rewatch value.

Plot aside, I particularly love the acting of Kwai Lun-Mei. She has so much chemistry with Jay Chow and she is darn cute in all the love scenes. Besides, she can really act out some of the emotional scene. Kwai Lun-Mei somewhat reminds me of the main actress of the Korean movie “Once In A Summer”.

Is “Secret” a classic? Probably not. Is “Secret” something that worths checking out? Probably yes.

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Drama Movie Reviews

The Piano Tuner Of Earthquakes – The Process Is Too Painful For What The Reward Is Worth

To kick start the “Cynthia is out of town for 2 weeks and I shall keep myself occupied”, I called upon the remaining member of the Movie Review Squad for an evening outing. I texted TK this morning and asked him if he was interested to join me for “The Piano Tuner Of Earthquakes” and he replied yes – without knowing what he got himself into, I later realized. Poor TK. So much faith in me, eh?

Why did I pick that movie? Advertised as the winner of the Locarno International Film Festival helped. The beautiful poster helped. And the fact that I like foreign films helped too. But why did I pick that movie?!

Sigh.

TK was asleep, I would say, 75% of the duration of the movie. In fact, he was snoring halfway and I have to give him the elbow. Duh … I felt a bit embarrassed … ha ha ha.

To be fair, this movie does have the trademark of the European movies … when the ending is revealed, you will get that … ah-ha feel. It is like the entire movie is made to mislead you to somewhere only to tell you otherwise towards the end. In fact, this movie gave me the illusion of two possible endings. When I told TK what I thought the endings could be, you should see the sparkle in his eyes.

The storyline is simple. There is a beautiful opera singer, there is an evil doctor, and there is a piano tuner. The questions throughout the movie are (at least to me) … did the opera singer die and where is the focal point? The filming is somewhat abstract, borderline artistic. Most of the time I was trying to figure out what the scenes mean. And there are lots and lots of disjoint scenes. I can safely say, I have not seen anything like “The Piano Tuner Of Earthquakes” before in my life. Not necessary means that it is good … just that it is different.

For those who are a big fan of Picture House movies, you may be able to appreciate the art within. As for me, the process is indeed too painful for what the reward is worth.

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Animation Movie Reviews

The Simpsons Movie – It Is Crazy And It Is Fun

After choosing three consecutive Asian movies for the Movie Review Squad, it’s time to go Western. I have not watched a single episode of “The Simpsons” on TV but somehow I knew that Cynthia and Tong Kiat would both love “The Simpsons Movie”. I was not too far from the truth.

I didn’t have much expectation for “The Simpsons Movie” though I must say, I love the trailers a lot. What a contrast between the movie I watched the night before and this movie that I watched over the weekend. From the audience atmosphere perspective, it was like a continuous stream of screaming in horror versus a continuous stream of laughter. “The Simpsons Movie” is so hilarious. Come to think of it, “The Simpsons” has been around for 18 years with more than 400 episodes aired worldwide. What took them so long to make a movie out of it? Turns out that writing a full featured film of 90 minutes is a lot more difficult than writing an episode.

I enjoyed the end result a lot. There was not a single dull moment and the audience was entertained throughout the show. Poor Cynthia. While I laugh in a relatively higher pitch, the dude siting beside her laughed in a much lower pitch. And we both laughed non-stop. Extra surround sound effect for her … ha ha ha.

Some of the jokes are pretty original to me (perhaps because I have not watched the TV episodes before). I especially like the way different characters are portrayed. The film is made in 2D. But with a movie as crazy as “The Simpsons Movie”, who needs 3D anyway?

Oh … before I sign off, I bet some of you are curious as in how does the Movie Review Squad looks like. I have taken a picture right after the movie and … there you go!

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Horror Movie Reviews

Watching Alone, Alone … Popcorn Flew Onto My Face

Believe it or not, the last time I watched a horror movie was 3 years ago. So hard for me to find movie partners for this sort of movies. Strangely, female colleagues of mine have much higher tolerance to horror movies than guys. Most of the guys either close their eyes most of the time or as though closing their eyes are not good enough, they cover their eyes with their hands. Com’on guys …

I love to watch horror movies. In especially, the Asian ones. I think this is one genre that the Asians can do much, much better than the Western ones. The hair-raising sound effect, flashes of gruesome imagines, the anticipation, and the storyline that induces fear beyond the screen. Think of “The Ring” … and think of “Shutter”.

Yes, I love “Shutter”. And that was the movie I watched 3 years ago. Now, the same pair of directors have collaborated for yet another great horror movie “Alone”. I have been looking for an opportunity to watch “Alone”. Since Cynthia has a farewell party to attend, I messaged Tong Kiat early this morning to see if he could join me. Oh well, I knew jolly well that he is not into horror and he said he would wait for me outside … ha ha ha. I asked my new colleagues if they wished to join me. I have an initial green signal then one of them asked, “English horror”? I replied, “Thai horror”. Oh well …

So I watched “Alone” alone. Although this time round, it is not as spooky as the last time I watched “Shutter” (I love the search function in my own website … ha ha ha … just key in “shutter”), I did coincidentally sit on seat number 7 this time round – same as last time. After a rather long warm-up, “Alone” delivered its first horror moment. Some of the audience screamed. I didn’t. But I was shocked by the “rain of popcorn”. The dude in front (a Westerner I believe) got shocked so much so that he threw his arms backward swinging his box of popcorn to the back row. Dude … lucky I didn’t get the “rain of Coke”.

Now, let’s get back to the review of the movie. I think I like “Shutter” better. “Alone” is part horror part thriller. The concept of “Shutter” is original. Arguably, the storyline of “Alone” – a pair of Siamese twins “Pim” and “Ploy” with one of them dead and another one alive – can be original. But from the fear factor point of view, knowing what the ghost is (duh … the dead Siamese twin of course … and this is not a spoiler as you will get this piece of info right upfront) sort of diminished the surprise factor. And what’s up with Thai actresses?! If Marsha Wattanapanich was to put on more make-up (see picture), “Alone” would have been such a treat. She can indeed be pretty as I saw her on TV doing promotion for this film. Marsha Wattanapanich can marginally act. But for the rest of the cast … I am not too sure.

The above are just some tiny criticisms. Overall, “Alone” is a good horror/thriller movie and it is entertaining as well. I think I did screamed twice and had a few hair-raising moments (literally). Definitely money well spent. At the end of the movie and I looked around, I reckon 60%-70% of the audience were girls (the largest cinema in Cathay Orchard). Com’on guys …

Categories
Animation Foreign Movie Reviews Romance

Paprika and Who Slept With Her – A Mixed Review From Us

After a rather disappointing outing to watch the Korean sex comedy “Who Slept With Her” last week, I tried to make amend and choose a better movie this time for the Movie Review Squad – the Japanese anime “Paprika”. Turns out that three of us have different opinions on these two movies. TK actually enjoyed the B-list movie “Who Slept With Her” with the expectation of a mindless laugher. I was mildly entertained by it while Cynthia found the jokes crude. In short, “Who Slept With Her” is definitely the male’s version of a chick movie (a dude movie?!). As for “Paprika”, I thoroughly enjoyed watching that and it has exceeded TK’s expectation (I suspect it was not that high to start with) while Cynthia found the story confusing.

I like “Paprika” a lot because the story is interestingly original and the artwork is beautiful. In some scenes, I was actually paying attention to all the background objects marveled at the amount of details on the screen rather than the main attractions. Color contrast plays a part to make some of the scenes dramatically beautiful. Although the characters are in 2-dimension, the way the postures are presented as well as the small movements look real enough. And these 2D characters are often set in backgrounds that are rendered with realistic 3D shading. Because the storyline of “Paprika” intertwines the reality with the dream world, the contortion of the surfaces, the morphing of characters and objects, and the flashbacks of scenarios – making it perhaps one of the most artistic Japanese anime I have seen.

What is the story of “Paprika” about? Without giving too much spoilers (you know I won’t!), a device that enables therapists to enter patients’ dreams has been fallen into the wrong hands. Now, people are losing their minds doing things against their will. It is up to the young and beautiful doctor Atsuko Chiba and her team together with her alt-ego that exists in the dream world “Paprika” to save the world. The story has its tense moments, moments of violence, and brief moments of (artistic) nudity. I guess that is why “Paprika” is rated NC-16 in Singapore.

I can understand why Cynthia finds the story confusing. Quite a number of times, the dialogues happen faster than the rate we can digest the subtitles. Perhaps the animation itself is too captivating. I at time find it hard to fully follow the plot. Some of the translation can be hard to gasp at first read. Maybe the concepts are foreign to non-Japanese or maybe the plot can be so unexpected at times. Either way, there is lots of speed reading to do while watching “Paprika”, at least to me.

I can also understand why Cynthia find “Who Slept with her” too crude to her liking. I did not know that it is a B-list movie (TK?! Why didn’t you …) and the last Korea sex comedy I watched with TK (as gently reminded by the man himself) was “The Art of Seduction”. Now, that was a good one. Funny and tastefully done. “Who Slept with her” starts with a Vice Principal suspects that a trainee teacher is having sex with someone inside the school library at night and the story then rewinds to the point when that trainee teacher just joined the school. The three usual suspects are a handsome student, a wrinkled face student (acted by an old man obviously) who has an enormous “tool”, and a student with nothing but sex in mind. The trainee teacher (played by “Kim Sa-rang) is really hot though – Miss Korea back in year 2000. Still I wish that she plays a much larger role other than merely some men’s object of desire. However, if you are in for a mindless laughter, “Who Slept with her” may be your cup of tea.

I don’t think it is a matter of watching either one of the show or both. There are quite a number of good movies are now showing. If you enjoy watching Japanese anime, you really should check out “Paprika”.

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Action & Thriller Movie Reviews

Die Hard 4.0 – Living Up To The Expectation Of The Franchise

I almost gave into “Transformer” after hearing some surprisingly interesting comments from people around me. Lora, for instance, loves the exciting plot, special effects, and the romance subplot. Another guy friend of mine loves the hot chick inside the movie. Fortunately, Tong Kiat has watched that, did not like it (for example, he cannot tell the good machines from the bad ones during the battle and he blames the … special effects), and when I suggested “Die Hard 4.0”, everybody leaped in joy.

“Die Hard” and I have gone a long way. Though I can’t quite remember where I watched “Die Hard” (1998), I remember vividly where and when I watched “Die Hard 2” (1990). I was just 24 hours away from boarding the plane to fly from London to Hong Kong and I wanted to try something different. I wanted to stay awake the whole night so that I would be able to sleep throughout the flight and wake up fresh in Hong Kong (that did not work). My friends whom let me stay at their apartment back then gamed for this crazy idea of mine and they have rented – on top of many other things – “Die Hard 2”.

I am not sure how many of you remember the plot of “Die Hard 2”. It was about terrorists taking over the entire airport and threatened to crash all the planes until their demands were met. Not exactly the kind of movie to watch just hours before boarding a plane (perhaps that was why I couldn’t sleep on the plane?). In the first “Die Hard” installment, John McClain’s (“Bruce Willis”) wife was stuck in a high-rise that terrorists took over, in “Die Hard 2”, his wife was amongst one of the planes circling above the airport under siege.

Since when action films make logical sense? Just when you thought John’s wife would be loving him for life after these two life changing events, in “Die Hard: With a Vengeance” (1995), their marriage was at the bleak of divorce. John McClain has become an alcoholic under suspension from service. The plot began with a bomb explosion with the man called “Simon” involving John McClain for all his bomb detonation games (and of course that racist sign John has to wear in Harlem when he met Zeus played by “Samuel L. Jackson”).

Almost 20 years have passed since “Die Hard” was released that shot Bruce Willis to stardom. I have to say, Bruce doesn’t seem to age a bit. At 52, he still looks amazingly agile and I think it all comes down to the “cool factor” he has. If the success measurements of an action film are the variety of parties in pursuit, the explosion, the tight plot, and a sense of humor, “Die Hard 4.0” has scored high in my book. Many people enjoy and amuse at how indestructible John McClain is (hence the franchise title, “Die Hard”). To me, it is how straightforward John McClain is (he doesn’t plan, he has an idea and execute it) and how he gets the kick of the entire execution and is actually enjoying doing it. A man with no perceived fear. That spirit of directness and self-enjoyment is what I enjoy watching installments after installments.

I have watched quite a few movies that try to tackle the theme cyberspace. It either over simplifies what lies within – like hacking into an account with a guessed password at first attempt or by typing something as silly as “hack this account” – or portraits geeks as someone who type really fast in front of multiple screens. “Die Hard 4.0” tackles the topic of cyber-criminology (hence the version number “4.0”) and while there are still rooms for improvement, it does strike a good balance between what may satisfy those who are computer savvy and a good sense of entertainment. So it comes with no surprise that in this installment, John McClain’s partner is a geek named Matt Farrell (played by “Justin Long”) who has decent acting skills. Since John is now officially divorced, his long time wife Holly is out of the picture and into the picture is John’s daughter Lucy McClane (played by “Mary Elizabeth Winstead”). After the movie, I asked Cynthia if she remembered which movies have “Mary Elizabeth Winstead” acted in as I did seem to have some vague ideas. Turns out that Winstead has also acted in “Death Proof”, which we have watched recently.

All three of us from Movie Review Squad love “Die Hard 4.0”. If you are into the genre of action or you have already seen some of the previous installments, you really should not miss this one. Try not to think too hard (though I must say there are parts of the plot that don’t quite make sense to me) and you will certainly get entertained.

An after thought: How could I possibly forget to mention the “Mission Impossible: III” girl Maggie Q? Okay, I think she has played her role well and I can understand why some guys are crazy over her. For “Die Hard 4.0”, Bruce Willis is my hero. Make no mistake.

Categories
Drama Foreign Movie Reviews

My Wife Is A Gangster 3 – I Nearly Cried & I Laughed Till My Stomach Cramped

Once in a while, a man has to go solo putting behind the power of 3 (of our Movie Review Squad). Here is my story.

After 7 years of living with Cynthia, I surrender. I just am not a good shopping partner when it comes to office-wear. Most of the time, I am not excited. And when I am, we both gasp at the price tag. I love fashion but fashion comes with a price. One evening I looked at a sea of shoes for ladies, I had an idea. I suggested to Cynthia to go out shopping with her lady colleagues (in order to liberate me of that role) and she did just that. Cynthia and MW (a very pleasant young lady from Malaysia) went shopping together today (Sunday) and she has spent a rather astonishing amount of money. On the same night, Cynthia lined up a parade of trophies that were enough to cover the entire bed and beyond. What a way to celebrate commemorate the 1st day of the 2% GST hike.

Knowing that I would probably have nothing much to do from the moment I dropped Cynthia off at Orchard to meeting Cynthia and her friend MW for dinner, I thought catching a movie would be a great idea. As I have not met my buddy KF since his return from Mount K, what better way to catch up with him and then four of us have dinner together?

Unfortunately I could not contact KF in time (he did join us for the dinner in the end), I have to pick a movie to watch alone. I chose the sneak preview of “My Wife Is A Gangster 3” that was shown in the odd timing of 3pm. I have no issue watching movies alone as I often do that whenever I cannot find a movie partner at the spur of a moment.

I walked into the theater with no expectation especially after watching “Death Proof” recently (a great movie by the way and what else can possibly thrill me after that?). I think I may have watched the 1st episode of “My Wife Is A Gangster” and from what I read, this 3rd episode does not quite gel with the previous two episode. In “My Wife Is A Gangster 3”, the beautiful Shu Qi is the main actress of this Korean movie franchise that has nothing to do with the previous installments. Those who love the franchise may not like this discontinuity.

To give you a quick overview of this Chinese-Korean movie and to illustrate how diverse this movie is, from the language perspective:

70% Korean, 20% Mandarin, 10% Cantonese

And from the movie genre perspective:

50% Comedy, 20% Drama, 20% Action, 10% Romance

As the story goes, A-ryong (played by “Shu Qi”), the daughter of one of the gangster bosses in Hong Kong, caught in the middle of a gang conflict and upon the request of her father, she left Hong Kong and into a country of her choice – Korea. There, she was under the protection of a Korean gang that is in a different kind of conflict with other gangs. Gi-chul (played by “Lee Beom-soo”) together with his 2 subordinates were put in charge as a guide to protect A-ryong. And the story pretty much zigzags between Hong Kong and Korea from then on.

There are many things I love about this movie. When filmed in Hong Kong, it has the typical intense gang drama and action and the moment the location is switched to Korea, I just could not stop laughing at the comedy. The contrast of the gangsters from these two locations (fearful and deadly feel versus comical acting) makes this movie one notch above the Asia movies I have watched.

I often get put off by actors and actresses trying to speak a foreign language throughout the movies that require them so (with some exceptions). I was prepared to see Shu Qi speaks in Korean or the Koreans speak in Chinese. But no, each speaks in his or her native language. To bridge the language barrier, the film-maker has thrown in a translator. And because the translator at times does more than translating the original message, that makes the movie such a joy to watch. With my limited exposure to Asian films, I have not seen films that exploit this translator’s role into great comedy materials.

Talking about originality, besides having a translator that takes on his or her personality, there are quite a few scenes that are original. I am not going to post the spoilers here and you will have to watch it to find out yourself. I love the car chasing scene and I bet you one popcorn set (if you buy me the ticket) that you have never seen anything like that before.

Yes, there are moments when I was so touched by the drama that I nearly shed a tear. There are moments when I laughed till my stomach cramped. And the action scene are beautifully filmed. Almost remind me of Uma Thurman in “Kill Bill” when I saw Shu Qi in action. I have always been a big fan of Shu Qi. In this movie, you will see her coldness, her coolness, her sweetness, a bit of her sexiness as well as her vulnerability. She can be so adorable when she smiles. As icing on the cake, the soundtrack does the job well to blend in with some of the action scenes.

I love “My Wife Is A Gangster 3” and I will certainly get the DVD when it is out. Do I recommend this movie to everybody? Only for those who enjoy Chinese action-drama and Korean comedy-romance and are open to the idea of the combination of these two unique cultures.

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Action & Thriller Movie Reviews

Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof – Part One Of Grindhouse

From the writer and director of “Reservoir Dogs”, “Pulp Fiction”, “Jackie Brown”, and “Kill Bill”, Quentin Tarantino has created yet another classic this time in the Grindhouse style. If you like his works, especially the earlier ones (less fantasy and more realism), there is no reason for you to miss “Death Proof” – a believable story of a mad stunt man killing groups of women with his “death proof” car. To better appreciate “Death Proof”, you have to understand where “Grindhouse” comes from.

Grindhouse cinemas, made popular in the 1970s, mainly showed double featured B-rated exploitation movies back to back with one another. Exploitation film belongs to a movie genre whereby lurid contents is focused upon in the expense of production quality. Hence explains Death Proof’s aspects of forbidden sex, wanton violence, drug use, and nudity. And I would expect Robert Rodriguez’s “Planet Terror” – the 2nd film of the double featured “Grindhouse” – to cover the rest of the aspects of freaks, monsters, destruction, rebellion, and mayhem.

If you are familiar with Quentin Tarantino’s style, you should expect no less from “Death Proof”. The script is refreshing, lively, and at times pornographic; the cinematography is brilliant in bringing out the mood of the film through change in color filters, effects, and lighting; the acting is excellent (I strongly believe that director has a part to play in how actors act); the action scene is entertaining and engaging. “Death Proof” does not have a lot of blood and gore scenes like “Kill Bill”. But when it does, the scenes are very real (be warned). The dialogue between the groups of girls itself worth the re-watch value with the camera floating seamlessly as the subject of focus is changed. As a guy, I love the car chasing scene – probably one of the best I have seen. And as for Cynthia, she was clapping and screaming in joy towards the end of the show. I personally find it a bit odd and I guess it is a girl thing. From the storyline perspective, Quentin Tarantino has once again demonstrated his stroke of genius by making a 2-hour long movie from a simple story that can be summed up in one sentence. And finally, it is illegal to walk away from a Quentin Tarantino film without thoroughly enjoyed the soundtrack (pay attention to the ring-tone of one of the actresses). The part when one of the girls keeps changing the music in a jukebox as the conversation proceeds is one of my favorites. The song from the ending credits has such an infectious tone that there is a high chance I am getting the soundtrack just because of that song (anyone else loves that song besides me?).

Now, if you prefer a light entertainment and find explicit languages offensive, you may be in for a huge disappointment. There is a trailer for “Death Proof” but I strongly recommend against watching it if you are going to watch the movie anyway. For the undecided ones, check out the trailer to see if this is the sort of movie you may enjoy.

For true fans of Quentin Tarantino only: I have watched the interview from the directors and the selected cast a while back. This video clip may be a put off even for those who enjoy the movie but for the true fans, we just want more.

Categories
Drama Movie Reviews

Black Snake Moan – A Bit Of Sex, A Bit Of Jesus, And A Whole Lotta Blues

What happens when you put together a bitter old man whose life has beaten him so bad and a young girl who has a “disease” or a “spell” of wanting to have sex with men at least once a day? A young white girl physically chained up in a black old man’s house. Now, can a bit of Bible and the blues music from the old man’s heart cure this young girl? You will have to watch this movie to find out.

Feeling bad that we have left Tong Kiat out for the last two movies Fantastic Four and Ocean 13, after I have received a message from him that he would be landing at 4pm, I sprang into action and picked “Black Snake Moan”.

You may not need to understand blues music to appreciate “Black Snake Moan” but certainly it will help. The show begins with Son House (aka Eddie James House, Jr.) – an influential American blues singer and guitarist – talking about blues music and his appearance continues at each relevant stage of the movie. The movie title is derived from a song by yet another blues artist named Blind Lemon Jefferson. And lastly, the influence of blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist R. L. Burnside is all over the cast. The grandchildren of Burnside, Cedric Burnside and Kenny Brown, are in Lazarus’s (played by Samuel L. Jackson) band; the character name of the reverend is Reverend R. L.; and there are remarkable similarity between Lazarus and Burnside’s features. In short, the entire movie from casting to soundtrack is heavily blues influenced.

And because of that, it is understandable why Samuel L. Jackson (as “Lazarus”) and Christina Ricci (as “Rae”) are in their shabby clothing most of the time living in a rather shabby house. Even the cars and the town itself are shabby. To me, blues music is from the heart talking about love and human conditions. And neither topic is a happy topic in real life most of the time. Almost throughout the movie, Samuel L. Jackson is unshaven and messy while Christina Ricci is presented with not only no make-up but also a bruised-up face resulted from an assault.

From the storyline perspective, it is original. The acting of Samuel L. Jackson and Christina Ricci (I am a fan of both) are great making most part of the movie an enjoyable experience to watch. The dialogue between them gives them much opportunity to develop their relationship. Did you know that Jackson can play blues guitar and sings? I surely did not. And Christina Ricci who has experimented with self-mutilation after her parents’ divorce – strange as it may sound – seems to have made for this role. The last movie I have watched with her acted as the main actress is “Prozac Nation” (an adaptation from the famous book on depression). I think she is a specialist for this kind of movies.

Interestingly, as Rae’s boyfriend (imagine what sort of man would date a girl who has slept with half of the town), it is none other than Justin Timberlake as the character Ronnie who suffers from extreme anxiety (what a movie filled with weird characters). Seems to me that Rae is the only antidote Ronnie can find in this town and they are in love. I personally question Justin Timberlake’s acting ability. Fortunately his part is not long and he does manage to squeeze out an ounce or two of tears when needed too. Oh well, when not needed to as well. (Afterthought: Why am I so critical to Justin Timberlake? Is it because I am a guy? It is not uncommon that a film pulls in an eye candy – a girl usually – to lighten up the show. And funny as it seems, Justin is probably the prettiest thing in the whole movie.)

Again, is “Black Snake Moan” for everybody? Let me ask you, is blues music for everybody (answer is probably no)? I enjoyed the show a lot and probably agree with some critics that this could be the best movie of 2007 so far. Tong Kiat and Cynthia find it “different”. You may wish to check out the trailer by clicking here.